The present invention relates to washing devices for pieces of flatware and in particular to a device for automatically washing rinsing and handling flatware to a degree sufficient to meet the requirements of typical governmental regulations relating to the cleansing and handling of soiled flatware which is used in public restaurants. Flatware is a term which has generally replaced the term silverware to refer to such items as forks, knives, spoons and other similar eating utensils as typically used in restaurants, hospitals, the home and the like.
Prior washers and the like such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,126,148 to Norstrom; 4,456,022 to Roberts; 4,551,880 to Johnson; and 4,636,362 to Leister typically rely to a large extent on the jet spray action or other motion of a wash or rinse fluid or a cumbersone, complex mechanical device to effectively cleanse and sterilize any and all surfaces of flatware, dishware and the like which are placed into a washing machine. Such primary reliance on the action or movement of the cleansing or rinse fluids cannot effectively expose all areas of the flatware to the wash or rinse fluids or provide an effective means of delivering the washed and rinsed items of flatware to the operator of the machine such that the operator can effectively avoid having to remove the flatware from the machine without re-contaminating the portions of the flatware which an ultimate user of the flatware might place in his or her mouth.